Ananiashvilli and Fadeyechev's staging of Swan Lake for State Ballet of Georgia, London Coliseum, 28 Aug-8 Sept 2024

[Dawnstar]

I did end up going this afternoon. I was impressed with the view from the very back row of the stalls. Considering the front row feels quite far from the stage, with the large orchestra pit, I thought the back row would feel miles away & I'd be too far away to see facial expressions but actually it was fine. A bargain at £24 (with an offer), a third of the price I had to pay for my restricted view side stalls seats for the RB's SL last season. Given today's weather, it was probably worth nearly that much just for the Coliseum's aircon!

 

I liked the production visually, nice & traditional. I saw the same lead cast as the first night & thought they were decent rather than great. Considering I'm someone for whom acting is the most important aspect of a performance, unfortunately the lack of much acting or chemistry between the two leads meant I was never emotionally engaged by the performance so I found it merely pleasant.

 

I was interested in the differences to the RB & ENB productions, mostly in Act III. Am I going mad or was Odile's solo performed to different music to usual? The style of dancing overall also seemed a bit different, softer & with less attack is the best way I can describe it (though as I have no technical knowledge someone will probably tell me I'm wrong as per usual!).

[Blossom]

Just back from today’s matinee. The ladies I took who were relatively new to ballet mostly had nothing to compare it to and rather enjoyed it. I have to say that despite the previous reviews and newspaper reviews, I  think I was a bit too optimistic. 
 

The 3 greatest challenges with this production were 

1. Lack of narrative/storytelling, not aided by cutting the mime and

2. The choreography, which when diverting from tradition, didn’t seem to fill the music adequately and it felt like rather a lot of steps were missing 

3. Lack of acting to support the dancing. This could have shone through and saved the day with a little matched emotion between Odette/Siegfried and it seemed that Rothbart left most drama to the curtain call.

 

Act 3 is usually my favourite, with the national dances and the black swan pas de deux, the latter somewhat fell flat due to the pace and passion dropping with the previously unheard solo music for Odile and a rather strange, complete pause to the music for applause and a bow after the (slightly off the music) fouettés as the musical and physical tension should be building. 
 

As said further up the thread, Act 4 was worth waiting for. This more than delivered in terms of the corps of swans and a little emotion shone through. The music always makes me feel quite emotional as the performance reaches its end and this alternate ending was nicely and satisfyingly done. 
 

It does make me realise how lucky we are to have such strong companies in the UK and I’m looking forward to the new season beginning!

[maryrosesatonapin]

1 hour ago, FionaM said:

@maryrosesatonapin most likely Potskhishvili couldn’t be available due to rehearsals for Dutch National Ballet next season, which starts 11 September.  (That’s assuming Georgian State Ballet were interested in inviting him.  He’s not your usual danseur noble.) 
 

I noticed that Olga Smirnova had missed out on announced dates with Hamburg Ballet when DNB programme clashed.  It seems there may not be much flexibility there.  

Yes, I thought that was likely. But I do feel he would make a gorgeous prince if he were given the chance.

[OnePigeon]

3 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

found myself wishing it could have been the Georgian star, Potshkhishvili.

I find myself wishing this watching many productions @maryrosesatonapin!  I think I’ll have to make a trip over to Amsterdam soon. 

[Henry]

I went to today's matinee (Sunday).  There were things that I didn't like and things that I did like. 

 

For Georgia at this point in the world's situation, to say that they want to come here is important.  Thanks for coming to London.  Please come back again.

 

 

[alison]

4 hours ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

 found myself wishing it could have been the Georgian star, Potshkhishvili. 

 

I can't see them being physically a good match, though. It didn't look as though she travelled very much to me.

[alison]

Now I'm finally at a proper keyboard, a quick note on Saturday evening: I was as blown away by Misseldine's performance as others on here have said. It struck me that she really became Odette - and that I was seeing what I had been missing in most O/Os I've seen in the last couple of decades. Add to that that there seemed to be a genuine connection between her and Krcmar's Siegfried, so that I was actually moved by their plight, and it was a far better experience for me than the opening night - even though I still seemed to manage to get the tallest man in the row right in front of me!

[alison]

Oh, and by the way, several people have commented on the unusual music for Odile's solo. It's not that uncommon, but I guess it doesn't appear in the Royal Ballet version.

 

My biggest bugbear last night, though, was that a latecomer was let in partway through the Act I pas de ... I was going to say trois, but it's actually quatre in this production.  There was an empty seat on the end of the row which she could have occupied without disturbing anyone, but no, she headed for an empty seat in the middle of the row, thus causing serious disruption and blocking a number of people's views.  The staff could at least have got her to wait until the change between the two acts/scenes, which came only a few minutes later.  I'm not even sure the seat she occupied was her own one, because I didn't spot her sitting there after the interval   I thought Coliseum policy was to allow latecomers to stand at the back of the Balcony or Dress Circle, not to disturb other punters' appreciation of the performance?

[Scheherezade]

23 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Nothing more awkward than still doing a slow curtsey or bow while the applause has finished, which looks like the dancer thinks more highly of herself/himself than the audience did!

This is something I find myself thinking quite a lot. It’s as if they are saying: “Well, come on, let’s have a bit more. I’m worth more than that.”

[Sebastian]

On 30/08/2024 at 17:47, Sebastian said:

Alastair Macaulay‘s review of last night is just out online, expert as ever:

 

https://slippedisc.com/2024/08/alastair-macaulay-this-swan-lake-is-a-work-in-progress/

 

On 30/08/2024 at 18:17, Jan McNulty said:

 

As, of course, is being included in the Links tomorrow!

 

On 01/09/2024 at 08:50, Sim said:

With regard to your comment about AM's feelings for Swan Lake...he clearly has an ideal in his head, and I would love to see it.  I wish a ballet company somewhere in the world would hire him to produce a new version.

 

22 hours ago, Two Pigeons said:

I knew Macaulay in the early 80s, before he became an 'expert'.  He was a past master at gathering other people's opinions and passing them off as his own.  That, together with some pretty serious toadying, served him well in those years.  

 

Given my serious admiration of Sir Peter Wright I find Macaulay's consistently going out of his way to denigrate his achievements very galling.  My opinion of neither of them has altered over the decades.

 

Perhaps my posting of a link to Alastair Macaulay's online review warrants apologies/explanations:-

 

@Jan McNulty I am not quite sure what is behind the comments you often make about the Links being available.  Are you merely advertising a feature or also complaining in some way (do we perhaps transgress Forum rules when posting about an article or a review)? Given your authority as one of those who administer the Forum and the frequency of your remarks about this, it seems reasonable to ask if it wrong occasionally to scoop the admirable Links initiative (which while a wonderful thing, tends to come out in the mornings and so is not always as fast as we are now accustomed to in the online 24-hour news world). Macaulay's review seemed to have a certain value and so, given that it had just appeared, I drew attention to it. A more general point is that I am not sure what exactly is wrong with readers accessing information in different places at different speeds for their own convenience? A professional analogy might be the distinction between BBC News (which while striving for accuracy admits to being slower) and Sky News (which boasts of trying to be first). 

 

@Sim There are indeed writers on the arts who have moved across to becoming dramaturges. As you no doubt know one of the most famous was the critic Kenneth Tynan who became an executive in the early days of the National Theatre. Some have done good work, others less so (they can tend to being abstract rather than practical people of the theatre). However to achieve the reforms one suspects would please Macaulay as regards say the RB one would need to do more than contribute ideas to a production or two (implementing major reforms at the RBS, for example). However I for one would be interested in a Swan Lake informed by his thinking. 

 

@Two Pigeons Two points. Let's say, following your suggestion, that everything AM knew in the 1980s came from other people. Now, forty years later, is it plausible that he continues to live off only what he knew then or perhaps he has picked up a bit or two in the interim, working on both sides of the Atlantic and travelling the world? That suggests an accumulated body of knowledge that others might benefit from.

 

As for Sir Peter, those with long memories will perhaps remember that I was in part responsible for celebrating his 90th birthday on BBC television so I don't think I can be accused of promoting a negative view of him and his work. However I do support the expression of robustly critical views. Indeed those of us who have read Sir Peter's marvellous memoir will know that he himself holds strongly negative opinions of some people and their work, otherwise widely celebrated elsewhere. Which seems fair enough to me. We can make up our own minds.

 

Edited September 2 by Sebastian

[Emeralds]

I meant to make a mention that the music for Odile's solo is the alternative one (commonly used at the Bolshoi and several other European companies but not a popular choice in British productions). Tchaikovsky's score for Swan Lake is massive and if played in its entirety (with curtsey and bows included) would last around four hours so choreographers have to cherry pick what they use and what they leave out.

 

The music used for Odile's solo in Britain isn't "original" (it's simply the most commonly used, based on the version preferred at the Mariinsky Ballet) as Tchaikovsky never wrote an Act 3 pas de deux! Odile was originally meant to dupe Siegfried during a group dance (either for 6 or 8 dancers), which I suppose would make the deception more likely since he wasn't dancing with her. However, it wouldn't be as exciting as a pas de deux! Ironically, most of the high points in the ballet we know nowadays as being in Act 3 were all originally part of Act 1.

 

No wonder the first production by Julius Reisinger didn't last (although not actually a flop as popular belief has it- it was staged for 7 years) and was ultimately replaced by the Petipa and Ivanov reboot of 1895. If asked to choose, I actually prefer this piece of music used by State Ballet of Georgia, Bolshoi, etc, as the minor key in the first part sounds slightly sinister or mysterious, which fits Odile's character better. Just to confuse things, the RB production by Scarlett, echoing Ashton's example from 1977, uses this same music for one of the Act 3 divertissement solos!  😀

Edited September 2 by Emeralds

[Scheherezade]

9 hours ago, alison said:

Now I'm finally at a proper keyboard, a quick note on Saturday evening: I was as blown away by Misseldine's performance as others on here have said. It struck me that she really became Odette - and that I was seeing what I had been missing in most O/Os I've seen in the last couple of decades. Add to that that there seemed to be a genuine connection between her and Krcmar's Siegfried, so that I was actually moved by their plight, and it was a far better experience for me than the opening night - even though I still seemed to manage to get the tallest man in the row right in front of me!

I do agree with this, Alison, although I missed that connection between the two leads. Perhaps it was more evident than on Thursday. Alternatively - and, like Dawnstar, the acting chops are important to me - apart from Misseldine, whose performance was so compelling that any negatives surrounding the rest of the production were overridden, the dancing was good but, for me, the interpretation was drama-lite. 

[Emeralds]

9 hours ago, alison said:

There was an empty seat on the end of the row which she could have occupied without disturbing anyone, but no, she headed for an empty seat in the middle of the row, thus causing serious disruption and blocking a number of people's views.  The staff could at least have got her to wait until the change between the two acts/scenes, which came only a few minutes later.  I'm not even sure the seat she occupied was her own one, because I didn't spot her sitting there after the interval   I thought Coliseum policy was to allow latecomers to stand at the back of the Balcony or Dress Circle, not to disturb other punters' appreciation of the performance?

You're right that they used to (pre pandemic) always insist that latecomers stood at the back till the interval. If the show was sold out, they had a tv in the basement (like the ROH ones) that latecomers were directed to sit and watch rather than going in. 

 

In 2022 latecomers were shown in and asked to sit at the back or a side aisle seat near the back  if there were vacant seats there, and only to get to their actual seat at the interval. Nowadays latecomers usually get directed to their actual seats part of the way through the act (unfortunately!) and the ushers indicate that the latecomer/s should take their actual seats and not one at the near end of the row. I suppose if a show sells well or sells out, a vacant seat at the end of a row might actually belong to another latecomer arriving after that?

 

And perhaps they don't ask people to stand any more in case someone faints/collapses and sues the management -"I paid for a seat because I need one, but you made me stand for ages so it's your fault!"  I must admit I now look at my row and the one in front of us (if any) before the curtain goes up and hope I don't see empty seats in the middle as it means our viewing could be disrupted by latecomers shuffling in mid way through the dancing....!

Edited September 2 by Emeralds

[LinMM]

It’s much easier to be on the end of a row when people come late and disturb the whole row such a kerfuffle if you have people on either side of you with all their bags and shopping etc so these days I won’t go to the Coli or Sadlers Wells ( rows far too long) unless I can get an end of row seat! 

[Lizbie1]

43 minutes ago, Sebastian said:

As for Sir Peter, those with long memories will perhaps remember that I was in part responsible for celebrating his 90th birthday on BBC television so I don't think I can be accused of promoting a negative view of him and his work. However I do support the expression of robustly critical views. Indeed those of us who have read Sir Peter's marvellous memoir will know that he himself holds strongly negative opinions of some people and their work, otherwise widely celebrated elsewhere. Which seems fair enough to me. We can make up our own minds.

 

I think that what people object to is less the criticism of SPW (and the RB) than his shoehorning of this criticism into reviews of unrelated or only tenuously related performances. It diminishes the force of those opinions IMO.

[Jan McNulty]

1 hour ago, Sebastian said:

 

 

 

 

Perhaps my posting of a link to Alastair Macaulay's online review warrants apologies/explanations:-

 

@Jan McNulty I am not quite sure what is behind the comments you often make about the Links being available.  Are you merely advertising a feature or also complaining in some way (do we perhaps transgress Forum rules when posting about an article or a review)? Given your authority as one of those who administer the Forum and the frequency of your remarks about this, it seems reasonable to ask if it wrong occasionally to scoop the admirable Links initiative (which while a wonderful thing, tends to come out in the mornings and so is not always as fast as we are now accustomed to in the online 24-hour news world). Macaulay's review seemed to have a certain value and so, given that it had just appeared, I drew attention to it. A more general point is that I am not sure what exactly is wrong with readers accessing information in different places at different speeds for their own convenience? A professional analogy might be the distinction between BBC News (which while striving for accuracy admits to being slower) and Sky News (which boasts of trying to be first). 

 

 

 

 

It is to advertise the Links forum where there is much of interest that people seem to miss sometimes.

 

Of course, posting in a thread also causes a duplication of posting.

[San Perregrino]

1 hour ago, Scheherezade said:

This is something I find myself thinking quite a lot. It’s as if they are saying: “Well, come on, let’s have a bit more. I’m worth more than that.”

Isn’t it rather that the dancer is pausing to get their breath back after a highly complex sequence? With the current production this is done by receiving applause which, as has been said, interrupts the narrative.
IIRC The RB version disguises this moment well by having Odile turn upstage with ‘diversionary’ action elsewhere so that the narrative continues. 

[Emeralds]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

the RB production by Scarlett, echoing Ashton's example from 1977, uses this same music for one of the Act 3 divertissement solos!  

Sorry, I meant Ashton's production of 1971 or 1979, although they did stage it in 1977 too! 

[Sim]

1 hour ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I think that what people object to is less the criticism of SPW (and the RB) than his shoehorning of this criticism into reviews of unrelated or only tenuously related performances. It diminishes the force of those opinions IMO.

Exactly this.  

[Two Pigeons]

1 hour ago, Sim said:

Exactly this.  

Hear, hear.  But with especial irritation at the phrase 'characteristically misguided'.

[Scheherezade]

2 hours ago, San Perregrino said:

Isn’t it rather that the dancer is pausing to get their breath back after a highly complex sequence? With the current production this is done by receiving applause which, as has been said, interrupts the narrative.
IIRC The RB version disguises this moment well by having Odile turn upstage with ‘diversionary’ action elsewhere so that the narrative continues. 

I wasn’t suggesting - and I don’t think that Emeralds was either - that dancers who take prolonged bows are milking the applause or purposefully holding out for more against the flow, but that this is the impression that it can give. 

[Dawnstar]

As no-one has posted any curtain call photos so far I hope it's alright if I post some from yesterday's matinee. I did check with an usher first that curtain call photos were allowed. As I was in the back row of the stalls I did have some issues with people standing up, both to ovate & to leave early, blocking my view so I missed some of the characters' solo bows. The cast list didn't identify any of the dancers who did the national dances but I've incuded a few photos because I thought it was nice to see them getting to have bows rather than only the Act IV characters & it shows the costumes.

 

Ina Azmaiparsshvili as the Queen & David Ananeli as the Master of Ceremonies.

 

The leads of the Neopolitan.

 

The lead of the Mazurka & behind the male lead of the Czardas (the female lead presumably had to dance in the swan corps in Act IV as she didn't appear with him).

 

One of the Spanish couples.

 

About half of the swan corps.

 

Efe Burak as Benno & Marcelo Soares as Von Rothbart (I didn't manage to get decent photos of their solo bows).

 

Nino Samadashvili as Odette & Oleh Lihai as Siegfried.

 

 

 

 

 

[Pas de Quatre]

I shall be seeing this on Thursday at the matinee, so will report back - if there is anything more to add! Regarding the ending, it has been mentioned in several reviews, and as I understand it, they seem to have gone back to the storyline of the original production in 1877, choreography by Julius Reisinger.

[Jan McNulty]

Lovely photographs @Dawnstar - thanks for sharing.

[LinMM]

Ditto X 

[Sim]

2 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

I wasn’t suggesting - and I don’t think that Emeralds was either - that dancers who take prolonged bows are milking the applause or purposefully holding out for more against the flow, but that this is the impression that it can give. 

I agree.  I often feel awkward when the applause is dying down, and then they take another bow so that the clapping has to start again.  'Read the room' as they say:  if the applause is dying down, get off the stage, or go to wherever you have to go onstage, but don't milk it (and in my lifetime of ballet-watching I have seen many milk it!).  Less is more!  Leave 'em wanting more...

[MAB]

11 hours ago, Sebastian said:

 Two points. Let's say, following your suggestion, that everything AM knew in the 1980s came from other people. Now, forty years later, is it plausible that he continues to live off only what he knew then or perhaps he has picked up a bit or two in the interim, working on both sides of the Atlantic and travelling the world? That suggests an accumulated body of knowledge that others might benefit from

 

I'm afraid those of us aware of AM in the 80's can never take him seriously as a critic.  On the rare occasions I agree with him as with the review under discussion, I am reminded a stopped clock being right twice daily.  His early reviews were remarkable only for the spite and downright malice directed at those dancers that ignored him at the stage door.  He was a bad joke to those aware of him and his success as a dance critic is incomprehensible to me.  Perhaps if the internet had existed back then he wouldn't enjoy the regard some hold him in today.

[Emeralds]

10 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

I wasn’t suggesting - and I don’t think that Emeralds was either - that dancers who take prolonged bows are milking the applause or purposefully holding out for more against the flow, but that this is the impression that it can give. 

I agree. I think where it is conventional throughout the show -eg in this production, the dancers have been instructed by the artistic director or choreographer that this is what they must do, so they will obey instructions as gracefully as possible regardless of whether the applause is prolonged and thunderous, fading quickly or even nonexistent. 

 

Sometimes the dancer/dancers have also been instructed to take very slow bows or do extra ones because they have to give a colleague time to get to the opposite side of the stage (especially if that's backstage which is a longer distance) and the choreographer doesn't want the stage to look empty with nothing happening for ages. Or to give a colleague time to catch their breath before starting a demanding solo or to change a costume or prop.

 

But equally, as Sim says, it sometimes looks (eg at the end of  a pas de deux at a gala or at the conclusion of an act and there's no plausible reason for occupying the stage) like they're milking it! 

Edited September 3 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

Thank you to everyone for their informative reviews and feedback! @Dawnstar- you're right about the softer dancing style; a few critics thought the same too. I think that's why it gave me the vibe of a fairy tale story book  that entertains in a pleasing way.

 

Out of interest, did anyone attend yesterday's performance with Anastasia Matvienko and Michal Krčmář? A friend is wondering whether to book for them or Samadashvili and Lihai. 

Edited September 4 by Emeralds

[DelphiumBlue]

 

 

Emeralds asked: “Out of interest, did anyone attend yesterday's performance with Anastasia Matvienko and Michal Krčmář? A friend is wondering whether to book for them or Samadashvili and Lihai?”

 

Yes, I was there last night. A fairly young and very  enthusiastic ( yes, applause not just at the end) audience indeed  especially in the Upper Circle.  

I loved the look of the performance …especially the costumes in such gorgeous colours and the medieval-ish styles. 
 

Having seen the RB production 2ce last season it took me a little while to adjust to the faster tempo ( actually quite a pleasant change on the whole ) and the differences in choreography & storytelling . I thought that the ‘acting’ in the second 2 acts was ‘better’ / more visible than in the 1st 2 & that Anastasia Matvienko is  well worth seeing . 
 

Definitely a shout out to the ‘Spanish Dancers’ in Act 3 - most impressive and I liked the way the positioning of their dance helped move the  narrative forward . 
I’m glad I saw it - a good start to the ballet watching season for me (& have just been to my 1st class this term too)! 
 

[Emeralds]

Thank you, @DelphiumBlue! 

[Amelia]

I would recommend to see Anastasia Matvienko. During almost 15 years of dancing in St. Petersburg, she absorbed the Mariinsky style. Her acting is touching. She is also a physically beautiful ballerina.

See her clip in “The Fountain of Bakhchysarai”:

 

 

 

[MAB]

I saw her too, The role fits her like a glove, I would be happy to recommend her performance to others.